A Grip on Sports: Balance shows up the most odd places, from coaching changes to loud basketball venues

A GRIP ON SPORTS • Balance isn’t just something the Red Panda displays on her unicycle. It seems to be an actual living, breathing thing. We felt its hot breath on our neck way too often Monday not to believe so.

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• It made an early appearance yesterday, what with the news Washington State basketball coach Kyle Smith had become, in an instant, former Washington State basketball coach Kyle Smith. And current Stanford basketball coach. Scales tipped toward the mourning side, at least among Cougar fans.

The balance? That was supplied by the bandwagoners that populate Hec Ed when the University of Washington’s basketball team is winning. They rejoiced all over social media when the news broke within an hour of Smith’s departure Danny Sprinkle, something of a UW legacy, had been hired to coach the Huskies.

Sprinkle professed, as Smith did later in the day, he had found his “dream job.” There’s a certain symmetry in that, if not balance.

We mean, honestly, when have college basketball fans actually spent even a night in a hotel room with balance? Bouncing off the walls with hysteria and hyperbole is more their idea of a fun time – followed by a morning with regret.

Ah, regret. What UW fans feel about their actions following the first two years of former coach Mike Hopkins’ tenure in Montlake.

You know, when he was twice Pac-12 coach of the year. And took the Huskies to the NCAA Tournament. They regret them so much, want them to disappear from the memory banks so deeply, they helped submarine an entire conference to balance the books. That’s our story and we’re sticking with it.

But let’s get back to Pullman, shall we? Our assessment of how the Cougar faithful handled Smith’s departure? They clasped their outstretched arms around balance. Yep. They understood that Nerdball, while it was at WSU, worked out. The first NCAA berth in 16 years is proof of that. And worth celebrating. But they also were surprisingly composed in their acceptance of the cruddy circumstances the school is dealing with and how that could hasten Smith’s departure.

To Stanford? Well, Nerdball seems to fit.

• That’s not the only time balance visited the area Monday. One of its extended family showed up at McCarthey during Gonzaga’s 77-66 win over another soon-to-be-gone Pac-12 school, Utah in the second round of the NCAA women’s tournament.

Oh no, the 6,000 in McCarthey weren’t decidedly not so. Not in any way. They were the Zags’ sixth-woman, supplying energy off the bench in a way not even John Havlicek could have envisioned. At times – the lead-building second quarter and a dangerous fourth-quarter stretch – it seemed as if the crowds’ vigor injected some vim straight into the players’ veins.

No, the balance showed up in the box score. On the Utah side was Alissa Pila, a 5-foot-11 block of granite that moves like few others in the game. (The senior is listed at 6-2, but if that’s true, LeBron is 7-feet tall.) She bulled her way inside, created subtle space outside and rarely missed, especially early. Her 35-point effort may not have equaled her season high – 37 against both South Carolina and USC, two of the tourney’s No. 1 seeds – but it was enough to get the Utes within shouting distance in the fourth quarter.

But the Zags balance, on both ends, proved too much.

Four starters in double figures, led by Kayleigh Truong’s 21 points and Yvonne Ejim’s 17 (along with 13 rebounds). Five playing as one on the defensive end, highlighted in one way by the Utes’ 38% shooting but most importantly by the five consecutive stops the Zags put together after Utah had cut the lead to five with 5 minutes left.

By the time Pili scored on a layup, there were just 40 seconds left and the game was over. And balance was getting ready to take a trip to Portland.

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WSU: Greg Woods woke up Monday morning and had to get right at it in an unexpected way. Cover the departure of a beloved basketball coach. We get it. Anyhow, Greg has the nuts-and-bolts story on Smith’s departure as well as the obligatory one on who might replace him. Only a couple people matter in that regard, the point person being athletic director Pat Chun. But all the upheaval surrounding the school, the Pac-2, the two-year WCC stint and more, including Chun’s future plans, may ensure president Kirk Schulz being the lead voice during the search. Who will be the next Wazzu basketball coach? We’ll, we’re available. Know Pullman well. Know the fanbase intimately. Know the WCC well. Tan, rested and ready. We’ll take a meeting if the Cougs want. Seriously, it’s going to be a fascinating few weeks. … Dave Boling is right. The Cougars are in a better place than before Smith walked through the door. But in this day and age, that can change in a microsecond. And will. Speed is more urgent than it’s ever been. … Guess what? Spring football is about to begin. Tomorrow, actually. Greg has a preview that asks some questions. … A final financial agreement between the Pac-2 and the departing Pac-10 was signed this week. Thomas Clouse has the particulars in this story. … Yes, the money WSU and Oregon State has picked up during this NCAA men’s tournament will help in the future. … Elsewhere in the Pac-12 and the nation, we mentioned Washington hiring Sprinkle away from Utah State above. Jon Wilner has his thoughts in the Mercury News on that and the Cardinal pulling Smith down from Pullman. He surprisingly finds both positive steps. … There are other stories about Smith’s return to the Bay Area in the region’s newspapers. … There are also stories about Sprinkle’s move as well. … John Canzano posted his weekly mailbag Monday. … Caleb Love is a key reason why Arizona is still playing. Next up is Clemson. … Oregon State lost a couple players to the portal. … A soon-to-graduate Colorado player loved his four years in Boulder. … We watched bits and pieces of the other two women’s games featuring Pac-12 schools. Second-seed UCLA fell behind early at Pauley but rallied in the second half to get past seventh-seeded Creighton. … Top seed USC took another path, breaking on top early and then running away from Kansas late. … Stanford had to survive Iowa State on Sunday and it did. Barely. It even caused Tara VanDerveer to do something unusual. … Oregon State is not only playing well, the Beavers have been given a boost from an unlikely source. Next up: Notre Dame. … Colorado’s pursuit of excellence has led to the Sweet Sixteen. … In football news, a former Stanford player is now pursuing his dreams with Utah. … Arizona State is ready to start spring practices. … So is Arizona and we can pass along another preview, this one on the offense.

Gonzaga: We sat next to Greg Lee as he worked to get his game story ready for you, battling deadline and its twin, stress, throughout the evening. … Greg also put together the difference makers. … We were a lot less stressed as we pulled together our column about the game and one of the roots of Gonzaga’s success. … Not sure about Colin Mulvany’s stress level. He always looks calm as he documents the action visually. His photographs are here. … We can pass along coverage of the game from the Salt Lake City area. … And coverage of one other thing. After we left the building last night, Utah coach Lynne Roberts spoke with the media. Shared some racial-related incidents her team endured in Coeur d’Alene before the tournament started. How it impacted the group. Forced the NCAA to find another hotel, closer to the Gonzaga campus. Sad. Shameful. Gives the region another black eye, thanks to a couple deplorable people. And highlights more than one issue the NCAA faces with having host schools in the first two rounds. Spokane already was hosting the men’s opening rounds, something decided years ago. The weekend also included the Northwest’s largest youth volleyball tournament, an annual event. Between the two, almost all hotel space was spoken for, including just about every room downtown. To assure high-end accommodations, the Utes were sent to Cd’A. It seemed a good choice. Until a (insert pejorative here) in a pickup truck ruined it. Then it wasn’t a good choice. And changes were made. Any other weekend, the Utes would have been staying at the Davenport or the Doubletree or something of that ilk. Could the same issue have occurred? Sure. Racism and its in-bred cousin stupidity respect no boundaries. But one might assume a higher chance in an area with a history of white supremacist groups. An assumption that, sadly, proved correct.

Turning to the men, Theo Lawson has a story for you today on the Zags’ freshmen who have contributed during the program’s ninth consecutive Sweet Sixteen run. … Jim Meehan turns his eyes toward Friday’s opponent in Detroit, Midwest top seed Purdue. And, yes, the teams met before. In Hawaii, which is about as different from Detroit as is the current play of these Zags from how they were playing in Honolulu. … Theo also has a story on a bet. No, not from some baseball superstar or in any bad way. The usual alma mater one between NBA players. … Ignore the mistake about the WCC tourney outcome in this Ringer piece on the NCAA tourney’s winners and losers.

EWU and Idaho: Around the Big Sky, not a good day for Montana. The men lost in Florida to Arkansas State at the CBI tourney while the women fell at North Dakota State in the WNIT. … Idaho State is making a large investment in its weight room. … Will Weber State’s Dillon Jones be the school’s next NBA draft pick?

Preps: The Spokesman-Review 2024 High School Basketball Showcase will be held this evening at Lewis and Clark High. The two games – girls at 5:15, boys at 7 – highlight the best players in the Spokane area. Dave Nichols, who recently underwent surgery, somehow put together this preview. Got to admire his dedication – though we question his sanity and not for the first time. He roots for the Washington Nationals after all. Hey, we’re kidding. So thankful Dave is back writing.

Mariners: Could the M’s win the A.L. West? Yes. There are reasons. … And there are reasons why Scott Servais likes his new-look lineup. Ah, spring. Optimism. It just reeks of it. … Ty France continued to hit. And the M’s won. … Bad news, though. Bryan Woo will open the season on the injured list.

Kraken: New blood in the form of AHL call ups are supposed to invigorate the Kraken.

Seahawks: Jim Harbaugh loves Mike McDonald? Great resume fodder or kiss of death? You decide. … The Hawks have spent money on the defense.

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• Late games are hard for us. More so these days when our bed time is usually, shall we say, not what it once was. Sorry to say but the GU win last night is probably our last live college basketball game this season. It’s time to start moving into spring and summer mode. In which we will be coaching basketball again. Thank goodness no one, not even us, writes about the performances. Until later …